Safety contributions, events and operating context as criteria in safety awards: A case study from a large organisation

Although the value and impact of safety award programmes (SAPs) have been criticised in literature, various programmes still operate within and across industries to recognise safety achievements, motivate employees and organisations, promote participation in safety improvements and raise the overall profile of nominees. In our study, following the request of a large aviation organisation (LAO) already implementing a SAP based merely on rates of safety events and occurrences, we introduced an award scheme by including and balancing safety positives and negatives as per the suggestions of contemporary safety thinking. The new SAP was based on the existing safety management system of the organisation and the data already available, included contributions to safety and considered differences in the context nominees operated along with lagging indicators. The pilot implementation of the new programme resulted in remarkable differences from the results obtained via the previous award scheme, a finding that satisfied management. Nonetheless, difficulties relating to the inadequate understanding of the new SAP by the targeted nominees and inconsistencies in the recording of data across the organisation led to the suspension of the programme after its first launch. Due to its limitations, this study does not recommend a safety awards standard for the industry. However, its methodological approach, the concepts embraced and the difficulties encountered could be considered by any organisation.